Simply cut the mochi into one-inch squares and pop in a 450-degree oven for 7-8 minutes on an ungreased pan.

A toaster oven does the trick nicely!

While baking, the mochi will sploosh out of one side of each square to make a gooey-chewy yum tunnel, an annex to the crispy, hollow puff of tastiness at its center, just like in the photo. See?

Just don't bite into your mochi while it's super duper hot, because, like I did recently, you might burn the roof of your mouth.

And that chewy gooey part will not just burn you -- it will literally stick to the roof of your mouth if it's super hot, and then your burn will be extra gnarly. Like mine! (Which is finally healed, like two weeks later. Doh!)

Thank you Kate O., my old SF roomie who turned me on to macro snacks years ago! You are a lovely bird. (And a lovely bride-to-be!)